Phillies select Amaro as new GM
The Daily News has learned that the Phillies are planning to announce their new general manager on Monday. It's no surprise: Ruben Amaro, Jr. is the choice.
Phillies select Amaro as new GM
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
This just in. . .
Ruben Amaro Jr. is the new Phillies general manager.
Sources close to the situation confirmed to the Daily News' Paul Hagen that club president Dave Montgomery met with assistant general manager, scouting and player development Mike Arbuckle yesterday and informed him that he had lost out to Amaro in what had been considered a two-man sweepstakes.
Arbuckle, who was hired by former general manager Lee Thomas before the 1993 season, then informed Montgomery that he will be leaving the organization to pursue other opportunities, the sources continued.
An official announcement is expected Monday.
UPDATE: The Phillies have just confirmed our report and will hold a news conference at 10 a.m. Monday.
The decision to hire Amaro, 43, is hardly a shock. There was strong speculation when Pat Gillick was hired three years ago that he was brought in, in part, to mentor the young assistant.
Amaro, who was often presented as the public face of the Phillies front office as Gillick preferred to operate of the spotlight, is heavily involved in many aspects of the organization, including contract negotiations. It was Amaro who introduced closer Brad Lidge and spoke for the organization when the Phillies announced his contract extension earlier this season.
Amaro has strong Phillies ties. His father, Ruben Sr., played for the Phillies and then worked for the team in a number of capacities. Ruben Jr. was a batboy for the Phillies from 1980 through 1983, and also played for the Phils in 1992-93 and 1996-98. He is also bilingual and a graduate of Stanford.
Nevertheless, Arbuckle's qualifications merited strong consideration. One of the first things Montgomery mentioned on the field in the giddy moments of euphoria after the Phillies clinched the team’s first World Series title since 1980 on Wednesday night was the “many homegrown players” who had made it possible.
And it was Arbuckle, 58, who supervised the drafts that netted Ryan Howard, Cole Hamels, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Brett Myers, Pat Burrell and Carlos Ruiz. It was also the system that provided the players (Michael Bourn, Geoff Geary, Mike Costanzo) that allowed Gillick to acquire Brad Lidge last November.
It remains to be seen if others in the scouting and player development department will follow Arbuckle out the door.
Amaro, who has been mentioned as a candidate for several general manager positions over the past few offseasons, will represent the Phillies at the GM meetings in California starting Monday.
Yes, because we all know the Phillies will NEVER win a World Series with this ownership......Oh That's right :)— flyersfan74- Hopefully he learned enough under Gillick to know what to do. I'm trying not to judge him for being a loyal number 2 to Wade.— geoffrobinson
Comment removed.- Amen, Leron, second the motion on Amaro. As anyone who's seen his appearances on Daily News Live can attest, Amaro is combative and arrogant, as if he's actually done something. Oh, sorry - he introduced Brad Lidge! Wow! I'm sick of hearing about how he's bi-lingual and that he graduated from Stanford, as if this somehow makes him more qualified than Arbuckle. It doesn't. All that counts is the ability to judge and acquire talent; Arbuckle's done it and Amaro hasn't, end of story. If he had, they'd be naming the talent he sniffed out instead of blabbing on all the time about where he went to college and how many languages he speaks. All I know is that Amaro's interviewed with several teams for GM vacancies and was never offered any of the jobs, which tells you all you need to know about him. Since the day Gillick announced that he'd be leaving, I've been dreading this day. Arbuckle was SCREWED and we fans will be worse off for it. I'm pissed!— ChiliPete
- I really think the Phillies made the wrong decision here. Arbuckle has much more experience and seemed to me to be the better candidate for the job. I don't expect much from the Phillies until Amaro is replaced by a real GM.— JimSeitz
- Amaro will be as effective a GM as he was a ballplayer. That should tell you everything you wanted to know about this latest yes man in a series of yes men. I watched Ruben Amaro Sr. play second base back in the early 60's at Connie Mack Stadium. He played a decent 2nd base but as a hitter, he was constantly in the low 200's. His son will be in the lower 200's as a GM. He was hired because his nose is stained brown. Period. I personally think he is a pompous, no-nothing yes man. Arbuckle, Wade, (sorry), and Gillick put this team together. It's documented. What has Amaro Jr. done, other than being Ruben Sr.'s son?— eagles7777
- You guys are unreal!!! The franchise just won a WORLD SERIES, and you already dismissing their choice of GM. Can we give Amaro two years??? No wonder Philly fans are talked about so negatively.— jeffmacnow1234
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- "The graveyard is full of indispensible men." Charles deGaulle— drbob456
- can you say gm wheels?— natedog
- Those who think this is a bad decision have no basis for that conclusion. Amaro has been the mover/shaker for most of the moves that Gillick gets credit for. And while Arbuckle is a good guy, do a tally of all of his draft picks and see what his success rate is -- not that good with lots more misses than hits I believe -- really the same as most organizations do in the crap shoot that is the MLB draft. And player development, although there are some success stories, has not been the Phillies strength either. I believe Amaro will be very solid and help us move to a state of continued excellence - he has shown himself to be a good manager, talent evaluator, communicator, maintainer of good contacts, etc. But only time will tell for sure.— wheels
- Come on Philly. All these negative vibes. That will just lead to another 28 years of futility. Maybe just maybe Amaro has acquired some of the Gallic / Arbuckles magic. Lets give the guy a chance and support him.— Pomp
- Couldn't they have waited? Why announce it now and squelch any positive vibes from the Championship? Amaro is a smug mama's boy born with a silverspoon in his mouth.— Leron
- Never thought Arbuckle had enough tact for GM position— coachbruce
Of course I'll hope for the best with Amaro even though I wished (against hope) for Arbuckle. Whatever team ends up with Arbuckle will build a solid farm system. Amaro in his quotes does seem to have an arrogant, pompous attitude. He doesn't strike me as one who would go out on a limb...that he'd always do the safe sure thing which is not good enough. i'll look at it optimistically in that he's now his own man stepping into the lead role, that he does have a Stanford education and good rapport with latinos.
